Your website is showing an error or won't load.
Every hour it's down, customers go to another website. What's going on, what you can check yourself and when to call someone in.
The short answer
When a website stops loading, it's almost always one of four things. The database isn't responding. The security certificate has expired. The hosting is down or hasn't been paid. Or an update has broken a plugin. All four can be fixed. What can't be fixed are the customers who came by in the meantime and went to another website.
What you see and what it usually means
- "Error establishing a database connection". The website can't read its own content. The database server is down, a password has changed or the database has been damaged.
- "WordPress › Error" or "There has been a critical error on this website". Almost always a plugin or theme that no longer works with the new version of WordPress or of the server software. It tends to appear right after an automatic update.
- "Your connection is not private" or "Not secure". The certificate has expired. The website is still there, but the browser scares visitors off and hardly anyone clicks through.
- The page won't load, or your hosting provider's page appears instead. The hosting is down, the account has been suspended over an unpaid bill or the domain has expired. It happens a lot when the card on file has expired and the reminders go to an inbox nobody checks any more.
If the website loads but sends you to gambling pages or Google warns that it may have been hacked, it isn't a fault: see what to do if your website has been hacked. And if it loads but takes so long that people leave, see why your website is slow.
What you can check in two minutes
- Open the website on your phone using mobile data, not Wi-Fi. If it loads there, the problem may be your network rather than the website.
- Search your email, spam folder included, for messages from your hosting provider or domain registrar. A declined payment or an expiry notice explains everything.
- If it's a certificate error, check the expiry date in the browser warning.
- If it happened right after updating something, write down what it was. It's the most useful clue for whoever fixes it.
- Audit your website in 20 seconds on the home page. If the tool can't read your website, Google can't either.
When to call someone in
If the account is paid, the domain is up to date and the website still won't load, the problem is in the website itself. Touching files or the database without knowing what you're touching is the fastest way to turn a one-hour fault into a one-week one. That's when it pays to have someone who does this every day take a look.
Every hour counts
A website that's down doesn't warn you. The customer looking for your phone number doesn't write to say it wouldn't load. They click the next result and call that business instead. And if your contact forms aren't arriving either, you may have been losing enquiries for days without knowing it.
How Vaseia fixes it
- I find the cause before touching anything, and back up whatever is there.
- I fix it, then check from the outside that the website loads, the certificate is valid and Google can get in.
- I leave active monitoring in place: a Telegram alert if the website goes down, if the certificate is about to expire or if the domain is about to lapse.
- I explain in plain English what happened and what I've done so it doesn't happen again.
A website that works brings in customers
A training academy in Madrid went from 28th to 10th on Google with no ads. In September it received 107 enrolments through its website. Fixing the website is the first step. Getting found is the second: see why a website gets no traffic and why a business doesn't show up on Google Maps.
If you'd rather not wrestle with this
Tell me what you see on the screen and when it started. I'll tell you what it is and what it takes to get it working again, with a fixed price before I start. I work remotely, in English, with businesses outside Spain. I don't compete on price. I compete on quality and speed.
Questions
What does "Error establishing a database connection" mean?
It means the website can't read its own content. Usually the database server at your hosting provider is down, a password has changed or the database is damaged. If it's the first, it sorts itself out once your hosting provider brings it back up. If it's either of the other two, someone needs to go in and fix it.
Will I lose my Google rankings if my website is down?
A few hours usually go unnoticed. Several days in a row don't: Google comes back, finds errors and starts showing other websites instead of yours. That's why it pays to fix it quickly and then check that Google can get back in without problems.
Can I roll back an update that broke it?
If there's a backup, yes. If not, the failing plugin or theme is switched off and the fault is fixed by hand. What matters is not touching anything else blindly in the meantime: that's how a small error turns into a big one.
How do I find out before my customers do next time?
With active monitoring: an instant alert when the website stops responding, when the certificate is about to expire or when the domain is about to lapse. With Vaseia, alerts arrive on Telegram and I look at them before anyone calls.
How much does it cost to fix?
It depends on what's broken and how the website is built. I look at the case and give you a fixed price before I start. If your website is covered by Vaseia's monthly fee, it's included.